After more than a year of waiting, early adopters of Tesla's highly anticipated Model 3 will actually be able to hit the road starting this summer.

Last March, Elon Musk unveiled the awaited "budget" model in Tesla's line of fully electric cars, the Model 3. After releasing the Model S, which starts around $80,000, and the Model X, which starts around $97,600, the Model 3 was announced to start at $35,000. The company's plan since the start was to sell luxury models of electric cars to build up the capital to create the more economic version. It's taken some time, but after pre-orders for the Model 3 opened last year at $1000, those who were the first in line will finally be able to enjoy the fruits of their patience.

Musk himself tweeted out the good news very early this morning, detailing the next steps in the Model 3's full rollout.

The Model 3's base version includes a battery that is estimated to give you 215 miles fully charge, compared to the base Model S giving you 260 or the base Model X starting at 235. The Model 3 is slightly smaller than both of the other models, but will still fit five passengers like many rival four-door vehicles. Owners will still get "standard" Tesla features like Autopilot and that beautiful touchscreen, but other customization options featured in the more expensive Tesla cars won't be available at the start. Model 3 owners will only have a pick of car color and wheel size when they first start shipping. Still, you're getting one of the premiere electric cars available, and doing it at a fraction of the price Tesla's other models have attained.

Initially, only the first 30 customers will be getting their Model 3s this month. As Musk explained, the company's production will then ramp up exponentially through the remainder of the year, with 100 Model 3's arriving by the end of August, 1500 by the end of September, and so on all the way to December, where Tesla has ambitious plans of shipping 20,000 Model 3s. If the Model 3 is to take hold, that kind of production is absolutely necessary. The electric car company can't hope to compete beyond being a niche market if the most affordable option isn't continually available to buy without a year-plus of waiting after this launch period.

Currently, there are nearly a half-million Model 3s on pre-order. All of those are expected to be delivered by mid-2018. If you want to get on the list now, pre-orders are still being taken, but you'll have to drop $1000 outright just to get your name on the bottom of the list.